Looking at the 'stockpiling' threads..

[EinsteinaGogo]

Is there genuinely ANYONE who could afford to get a couple of weeks shopping into the house, who hasn't?

And if so, WHY?

🤣🤣

So you are either a person who wholeheartedly detests any form of pre-planned food purchasing and only buys exactly what you need for the next week maximum or you clear the entire supermarket shelves in one sitting. Right oh...hahaaa

I could but won’t, the shops definitely won’t be closing and it massively fucks things up for people that can’t afford too. I’ll never forget bumping into an old man in Tesco back when all the wank stains bought everything, walking around with an empty basket looking at empty shelves.
Completely unnecessary and quite frankly dick ish behaviour...I said what I said!

This

Whoops fail.
Actually this

User36258

I could afford to but haven’t because I’m not an arsehole who hoards resources at the expense of those who don’t have the luxury of driving to big supermarkets and spending £££ on a few weeks’ worth of shopping.

[quote toilet]**@CrunchyNutNC* @Yesthesearemymonkeys what would you say @Fbearsmum* is doing? [/quote]
If they are buying a box of teabags, when there are plenty on the shelf, even though they may not have finished the last box - I would call that buying an extra box of teabags.

Were they fighting a granny for the last box of teabags, I'd call that out of order.

What are you trying to prove?

Why obsess about labels?

Also all the carping about panic buyers vs preppers totally ignores the fact that a huge part of the problem was that people needed to buy more.

Even if only the people who were given school lunch vouchers had shopped it would have caused problems for the JIT supply method. The fact that all of the kids who normally get lunch at school needed fed, all the people who normally use staff canteens or Pret or McDonalds needed fed, all of the folks normally in catered uni halls needed fed etc etc. People had to buy more food. They were neither prepping nor panic buying. They were shopping for changed circumstances and the supermarkets couldn't cope with it.

The reality is most preppers & most who call themselves ones on this thread are no different to panic buyers.

Temporary shortages are being caused by people adding just a few extra items and shopping more often,” said Fraser McKevittt_, the head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, which monitors consumer spending.

The idea that panic buyers are those that go into shop see no pasta & instead buy 100 packs of rice is nonsense. Very few shoppers were buying extraordinary quantities, its the extra items here & there.

Since April we only shop every 2-3 weeks. We get a fix of fruit and veg that needs to be eaten with in the first week and hardier items that will last into the second and third week. For the store cupboard stables we have operated a one open, one in the pantry system which meant we survive March by using the greengrocers and butchers before we could get an online shop booked.

We already had a milk delivery but we have now added bread to that as we struggled at first to get flour as we make our own bread we have since managed to get a 16kg bag of bread flour.

I now keep a online shopping basket open and book a delivery slot either when the fridge is starting to look bare or when the basket is looking full. I can't imagine going back to a weekly shop again, we have adopted an approach that is more in tune with our usage and reduced waste and accidental duplicated purchases.

Shit! The extra can of tomatoes that I bought last year has fucked the whole food chain. Forever. 😂😂😂😂😂😂

@CrunchyNutNC

I haven't labelled anyone, I'm just trying to differentiate. Are you on the same thread as me? It's the so called preppers labelling everyone else. What are you trying to disprove?

@lyralalala I agree, I was surprised how quickly we got through bread & milk as we were all home.

It's the "preppers" on this thread blaming everyone else for issues that has annoyed me when most of them aren't even preppers it seems.

@kepabu

The reality is most preppers & most who call themselves ones on this thread are no different to panic buyers.

Temporary shortages are being caused by people adding just a few extra items and shopping more often,” said Fraser McKevittt_, the head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, which monitors consumer spending.

The idea that panic buyers are those that go into shop see no pasta & instead buy 100 packs of rice is nonsense. Very few shoppers were buying extraordinary quantities, its the extra items here & there.

Yes the shortage is caused by people who buy more than normal.

Preppers buy the same amount as normal , it's just that normal for them is slightly more than they consume in the same period so as to build a buffer.

I normally buy 5 tins of beans each month. The supply chain allows for my 5 tins of beans, it's normal. The fact that I normally eat 4 tins is irrelevant.

How predictable we now get the competitive prepping! I started in 2019 & only bought 2 tins. I started in 2010 because it's how I was raised. I started in 10 B.C.

Yawn!

In answer to the op, because there is no need. Even if idiotic panic buyers stockpile stuff (hopefully supermarkets will put restrictions in place in plenty of time this time) there are plenty of alternatives which mean we won't starve or die from poor hygiene.

Preppers buy the same amount as normal_ , it's just that normal for them is slightly more than they consume in the same period so as to build a buffer.

So you were a prepper right from your very first shop? of course you were, and you didn't change how much you needed to reflect a partner or dc, no of course not as you already knew & were prepping for this. 🙄

@toilet

*@CrunchyNutNC*

I haven't labelled anyone, I'm just trying to differentiate. Are you on the same thread as me? It's the so called preppers labelling everyone else. What are you trying to disprove?

You're the one referring to preppers as a type and finding inconsistencies in what 'preppers' have said.

Many people will think of having a buffer in their pantry as being good housekeeping, they won't think of themselves as warranting a special name.

I think you like being goady.

We shop a week at a time but we have a little extra should we want to go into our stores we could probably live for another 7-10 days maybe more of being frugal which we are not. But hasn’t everyone got a little frozen veg, meats or jars lying about just in case? We always have had extra, we would run out of milk, crisps chocolate and fresh veg within a week though.

[quote toilet]@lyralalala I agree, I was surprised how quickly we got through bread & milk as we were all home.

It's the "preppers" on this thread blaming everyone else for issues that has annoyed me when most of them aren't even preppers it seems. [/quote]
Tbh there has been as much blame back and forth between both "sides" on threads on here over the months.

Mostly both sides were missing the fact that a huge part of the issue was the fact people were eating at home a lot more.

Personally I don't understand why someone with space and money (and one of the reasons I am a prepper is because I had a time with neither of those things, the other is a neglected childhood that featured hunger a lot) wouldn't have two weeks worth of supplies at home given any of us could get a call from track and trace or develop symptoms. It just makes sense to me, but I do think it's important that each "side" of the debate keep in mind the whole lunches issue because I firmly believe that was at the root of the problem. Not prepping or panic buying.

Even in a two parent, two kid family that's potentially an extra 20 lunches a week that were needed. That easily accounts for bread and beans shortages in the average shop.

@kepabu

Preppers buy the same amount as normal_ , it's just that normal for them is slightly more than they consume in the same period so as to build a buffer.

So you were a prepper right from your very first shop? of course you were, and you didn't change how much you needed to reflect a partner or dc, no of course not as you already knew & were prepping for this. 🙄

Sorry, you've lost me?

You'll get there one day.

@kepabu

You'll get there one day.

I very much hope not.

Many people will think of having a buffer in their pantry as being good housekeeping, they won't think of themselves as warranting a special name.
This.
I thought preppers were people having huge stockpiles for an emergency or a zombie apocalypse.

Prior to Mumsnet I didn't think there was anything unusual in running my pantry with a slight surplus for weeks when we can't get to the shop / someone is ill / something unexpected turns up. I never thought everyone had a buffer, but it never struck me as unusual, yet on here I'd be nowhere near as prepared as a prepper and a totally selfish arsehole according to those who think a few spare staples is tantamount to causing mass food shortages.

Most things can be done to different degrees though. Some people freeze spare leftovers for meals later in the month, so have a drawer with a few evenings worth of meals. Some people are queens of batch cooking and have whole freezers ready.

Not really sure why grocery shopping would be any different.

@lyralalala i can't comment on threads from months ago as I wasn't really on here much (key worker so crazy busy) particularly in March. On this thread it seems to be very much preppers blaming others. I'm sorry but I don't accept that not having a 2 wk reserve in is endangering others but miraculously if you have a 2 wk reserve it isn't. You still have to get food after those 2 wks & the virus hasn't gone anywhere. I also don't accept that everyone should prep to reduce shortages, for one surely its far too late now?

I have said upthread I can see why people buy more but I can also see why they don't. Im not sure why that's so controversial.

I could afford it...but a) I don't have the space, and b) I'm not a twat 🤷‍♀️